The Australian Therapeutic Goods Association National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee on Friday preliminarily approved the reclassification of emergency contraception to allow it to be sold without a doctor's prescription, Australia's Daily Telegraph reports. The public has four weeks to respond to the decision, and the committee will vote again in October to confirm the new rule, which would place "strict guidelines" on pharmacists, including requirements to discuss the effects of the drugs and their customers' sexual health, according to the Telegraph (Dunlevy, Daily Telegraph, 6/23). EC, which can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sexual intercourse, could be available without a prescription as early as January if the committee approves it again in the fall (Edmistone, Courier-Mail, 6/21).

Reaction
The Australian Medical Association is opposed to the decision, the Telegraph reports. AMA President Dr. Bill Glasson said, "Access to these drugs should ideally take place in the context of a medical consultation that addresses the range of health issues relating to unprotected sexual intercourse," adding, "Public interest would be better served seeking to improve access to doctors or sexual health services rather than access to drugs" (Daily Telegraph, 6/23). Australian antiabortion groups said that the drug's reclassification would promote promiscuity and increase health problems among young women, according to Australia's MX. "I'd like to ask them why [oral contraceptives] requir[e] a prescription while the emergency pill, which contains a shock dose 50 times higher than [oral contraceptives], will be available over the counter," Right to Life Australia President Margaret Tighe said (Moor, MX, 6/20). The Public Health Association of Australia supported the committee's decision because it could help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and therefore reduce public health care costs, according to Australia's Courier-Mail. PHAA women's health spokesperson Angela Taft said, "The primary public health goal in the area of unwanted pregnancy must be prevention, but no contraceptive is 100% safe and accidents happen" (Courier-Mail, 6/21). Parliamentary Secretary for Health Trish Worth said that although nonprescription access to EC might not be the "best way" to distribute the drug, it might be a "necessary step," according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation News. "In an ideal world, they wouldn't just get it over the counter. They would have counseling that would go with it and a lot of care. But that may not be possible," she said, adding that "these things ... [are] always more complicated than they seem" (Australian Broadcasting Corporation News, 6/23).